Oppo to set up R&D center in Hyderabad; hires Tasleem Arif as new R&D head

TT Correspondent | | 01 Oct 2018

Chinese handset maker Oppo said that it will soon set up its research and development (R&D) center in Hyderabad, India, and has hired Tasleem Arif as its new R&D Head and vice president. The new center will be focused on gaining deeper insights about Indian consumers and market, and help build India centric products

Arif will be setting up a team which will focus on software localization for Indian consumers as well as device quality. He was previously associated with Samsung as Head – Samsung Make for India Innovations (R&D), India Hardware-Software Product Planning.

He has almost 15 years of experience in mobile software, design and development.

“The opening of our first R&D Centre in Hyderabad is a step in that direction and strengthens our commitment to the Indian consumers. We are excited to have Tasleem on board and believe that with his expertise we will be able to build a strong R&D team and make this center second largest after China," Charles Wong, Oppo India President said in a statement.

The Hyderabad R&D Centre will be Oppo's seventh facility globally with the other 6 in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Japan (Yokohama) and US (Silicon Valley).

ET previously reported that Oppo finalized discussions with some of its key components makers to establish production facilities in India, alongside the Chinese smartphone maker's upcoming tech park in Greater Noida, as it seeks to deepen its presence in the world’s second largest market.

For the new upcoming bigger facility -- "Industry Park" -- Oppo has already acquired land and has started work to establish operations. Wong had then told ET that Oppo will kick-start the new facility in 2019.

OnePlus, which is India’s leading premium handset brand, is also setting up a dedicated in independent research and development (R&D) center for the Indian market by December-end, having established a pilot R&D team which is working various offices in the country, ET previously reported.

Oppo was the fourth largest smartphone brand in the April-June quarter with 10% smartphone market share -- trailing Xiaomi, Samsung and Vivo -- up from 5.6% share in the January-March quarter.